W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1993 Fair and tender ladies at Tinker Creek: Women writers coming of age. Nancy Clyde Parrish College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Parrish, Nancy Clyde, "Fair and tender ladies at Tinker Creek: Women writers coming of age." (1993). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1593092091. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/m2-2q5w-c777 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. Fair and Tender Ladies at Tinker Creek: Women Writers Coming of Age A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the American Studies Program The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Nancy C. Parrish 1993 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy \ A u t h o r Approved, July 1993 Susan V. Donaldson Department of English /Robert A ross American idies Program U'M. Colleen Kennedy Department of English Csther Lanigan Department of English -MiiJjftasJCfcxL_____ H. Cam Walker Department of History Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. vii FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. 2 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER I. SOUTHERN STEP-SISTERS: THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN AT HOLLINS .... 11 CHAPTER II. LOUIS DECIMUS RUBIN, JR.: THE ONCE AND FUTURE MENTOR .................................................. 67 CHAPTER III. THE TINKER GROUP: “ANARCHY AND ARROGANCE FOREVER’5.................................. 124 CHAPTER IV. ANNIE DILLARD: THE PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK ................................................ 170 CHAPTER V. LEE SMITH: FAIR AND TENDER LADY ................................................................... 225 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................... 284 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In working on this dissertation I have acquired a mass of indebtedness that I can never hope to repay. To a great extent I owe the discovery of my topic to Lee Smith whose books inspired my interest. Lee has given me an extraordinary amount of her time, has encouraged me with letters, and has paid me the honor that she first found herself in her teachers and peers at Hollins: the compliment of taking my work seriously. The words of Katie Cocker in The Devil’s Dream seem to be Smith's own attitude about treating people: “No matter how big 1 get, I will always remember this moment. I will always try to be nice to the kids coming up in this business and treat them decent, not like Dawn Chapel did me. It's a great feeling to help another artist who's really struggling as a newcomer. And I know what it means to a new artist for someone else to just speak up for them a little bit” (271). My interview with Smith led me to Hollins where I discovered firsthand the generosity of the faculty. Though I was a stranger without an appointment, John Allen took me into his office and sketched a brief history of the time period in which I was interested. He sent me to Fishbum Library where I met head librarian Richard Kirkwood who quickly introduced me to the current archivist, Anna Kirkwood. To her I owe a great debt. She would patiently climb up and down the two stories to the archive storage to retrieve for me any information, no matter how small. She suggested sources that I couldn't have discovered on my own; she enlisted the help of other administrators on campus. Thanks also to Beth St. Cyr for helping me to re-check sources in the archives. Richard H. W. Dillard took time from his sabbatical to come to campus and answer questions about his former students and colleagues. It was he who first told me about Beanstalks: and, when I discovered that Fishbum Library had no copy of the magazine, he dug into his own records and sent me a photocopy for my use. My research soon brought me again to Chapel Hill to Algonquin Books where I met Louis D. Rubin, Jr. He was completely free with his time and open to all of my questions. He introduced me to Shannon Ravenel, the new editor at Algonquin and a Hollins graduate who has, herself, made important contributions to the growth and encouragement of new Southern writers. Even the secretary was interested and encouraging, pressing Killer Diller and Ferris Beach upon the impoverished graduate student as a show of support. Kind and helpful, too, were Bob Anthony, Alice Cotter, and Jeff Dix, the librarians in the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I have been particularly touched at how generous have been the Hollins graduates whom I have interviewed. Few people could have greater demands on their time. Annie Dillard, fresh back from a polar expedition and having just completed another book, not only answered my questions but helpfully criticized some of my strategy. She has made her continued assistance only a phone call away. Lucinda Hardwick MacKethan, amid her papers, writings, and teaching at the University of North Carolina, took time at night to talk with me about my project. Jo Berson Buckley, Nancy Beckham Ferris, and Anne Goodwyn Jones were generous both with time and insights. I am grateful, too, for the people who have given me the opportunity to test my ideas with conference papers. Early thoughts about Lee Smith's work I presented at the Harvard Graduate Conference on American Studies and Its Sources, the Southern Modem Language Association/Southern American Studies Association Conference, the Tenth Annual Southern Writers' Symposium, and the Popular Culture Association of the South Conference. I am thankful to Susan V. Donaldson and Sue Laslie Kimball in particular for accepting my paper ideas. Peggy Whitman Prenshaw, who heard one of my papers, has iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. since welcomed my work for review at Southern Quarterly and has kindly encouraged my continued efforts. Betsey Fox-Genovese graciously shared her time and advice to make certain issues about her work clear to me. Jerry Williamson of Appalachian Journal helped me through the refinements necessary to making my interview of Lee Smith a useful scholarly contribution. I would give special thanks